Scott, Farris return to SSUSD Board

Voters returned incumbents Mike Scott and Bill Farris to the Sierra Sands Unified School District Board of Education Tuesday night.

By John V. Cianijciani@ridgecrestca.com

Voters returned incumbents Mike Scott and Bill Farris to the Sierra Sands Unified School District Board of Education Tuesday night.Scott will serve his fifth term on the board, and Farris will serve his seventh term.Scott was the top vote getter with 5,719 votes (32.70 percent), and Farris was second with 5,058 votes (28.92 percent).Fellow incumbent Tim Johnson was third with 3,828 votes (21.89 percent), and resident Randy Jenkins was fourth with 2,803 votes (16.03 percent).Although there were three incumbents, there were only two open seats because the board voted earlier this year to reduce the size of the board from seven to five.“I look forward to continuing to serve,” Farris said. “I will miss the contributions of Mr. Johnson. He was a very fine board member. We knew this was going to happen when we reduced the size of the board. We knew one of us was going to go.”Sierra Sands Superintendent Joanna Rummer expressed her gratitude to Johnson.“He was and continues to be an advocate for our children,” she said. “I know that he will continue to be a strong advocate for education and a valued member of our community in support of our district. I am grateful to Mr. Jenkins for his interest in serving as a member of our school board. Mr. Scott and Mr. Farris are experienced, effective long-standing advocates for education and our students, and I am gratified and truly pleased that they will continue to serve our students.”Johnson said he was disappointed in not being re-elected.“It was an honor to serve on the board for four years,” he said. “I plan on staying involved in the school district in the stuff I’m already involved in.”